Blog Posts in Category: Katrina Heisler

In a perfect world, losing weight would be as easy as snapping your fingers...eat right, hit the gym a few days and you’ve reached your ideal weight loss goal. Unfortunately, it is not that easy and sometimes it seems no that matter how many cookies we pass up in favor of carrots, and how many hours we log at the gym, the scale won’t budge! Weight loss professionals are claiming there is a solution - high intensity interval training has been shown to help those who have reached a plateau and... Read More

Carb-free, fat-free...we’ve heard of just about every “free” diet out there, but how about gluten- free? You may have recently seen the newest diet craze in the media with celebrities claiming weight loss galore, or perhaps you know someone who eats form the gluten-free section that UNH dining services provides.
First, lets talk about what gluten is. Women’s Health Magazine’s article titled “Is Gluten Bad for Your Body?” defines gluten as a protein found in the grains of wheat, barley and rye... Read More

Breathing exercises have long been considered a sacred and respected tool utilized by many cultures to achieve mental and physical balance within the body. More recently, physicians, therapists and trainers alike have encouraged deep breathing to help ease tension, cleanse the body, boost energy, and relieve stress. Essentially you can “exercise” anywhere at any time to provide relief and relaxation. Breathing exercises last from 5-10 minutes and just require two tools; your body and your mind... Read More

We all know exercise is good for you, but did you know you can start reaping the benefits within just minutes? Fitness Magazine published an article pointing out the pros of exercising from the minute you start to years after. Immediately, your body is going to start changing as you exercise, but as you continue your regimen your benefits build up. Check out the article yourself to get some great tips or continue to read on for some of the not so obvious advantages.
From the time you press... Read More

According to a study published by The Journal of the American Medical Association, the cost of drinking goes far beyond your bar tab or the price of a 12 pack each week. In 1999, the U.S. consumer expenditure was $116.2 billion. Underage drinkers contributed to $22.5 billion and consumers over 21 years of age were responsible for the remaining $34.4 billion. Being on a college campus, alcohol consumption is obviously going to be a popular trend for both of age and underaged students. Without a... Read More

Let me start by saying I am a huge tea drinker; I’m talking five or six cups a day. For all the coffee addicts out there whose java is more “their cup of tea”, I can sympathize with you, the day just isn’t the same without it! I love the taste, the smell, the feeling of tea as it warms up my whole body and I just feel relaxed. This sparked in my mind and made me wonder, does tea have any stress relieving affects? Turns out a study was conducted by the University College of London to test the... Read More

Everyone has their own gym attire, but most of the time you see the same work out gear; shorts, a t-shirt and sneakers, but while at the gym recently I noticed something a little more unusual. Instead of sneakers, a girl was wearing shoes that were so unlike sneakers they looked like toe socks. The thin fabric covering her feat outlined each toe and was being held on her foot by a Velcro strap. Is she really going to run in those? I thought to myself. Having learned and studied how to buy the... Read More

We all know that feeling when we open up the fridge at the
end of the week and stand with the door open, staring aimlessly into the vast,
empty appliance we depend on to supply us with food. Yes, it is that time of
the week again; time to go grocery shopping. Most of us dread stepping foot
into the crowded grocery store that may seem more like a maze as you squeeze
down isles looking for the slew of items you want to add to your jumbled cart.
Upon arriving in line to ring out, you search for... Read More

A review of the UNH Dialogue Series, Too Much Information: “Do I Really Need to Have That Test? Understanding risk and making medical decisions in the age of TMI” By Dr. Gene Harkless
In the recent UNH Dialogue “TMI” discussion on “decision making in the age of information overload”, one of my own professors Dr. Gene Harkless took an in depth look at the medical perspective of “too much information”. Dr. Harkless asks “is treatment always needed” as she looked at a study revolving around PAP... Read More

A NPR interview done with UCLA professor Rita Effros, discussed the effect stress plays on the immune system and how a hormone can be too much of a good thing. Effros states “it all starts with Cortisol, a hormone we produce when we’re stressed”. Cortisol is released during periods of acute stress, slowing down your parasympathetic nervous system(PNS) – “rest and digest” – and sends blood to the parts of the body that need it most. The example given is if you were running from a lion,... Read More